The Dash Action

  Image by Free League [7 min read] As part of my ongoing research into new tabletop RPGs, I’ve just finished a solo run of Dragonbane , using Alone in Deepfall Breach . Instead of packing the game away, I found myself wanting to stay. Not just to keep playing solo, but to extend the experience into party play. That’s usually a good sign. What follows isn’t a review in the traditional sense. It’s a snapshot of how Dragonbane feels in motion, first as a system, then as a solo experience, as seen through the eyes of a long-time Dungeons & Dragons player. Dragonbane as a system: old bones, new muscles At its core, Dragonbane is a roll-under d20 system. If that makes you think of early D&D, you’re not wrong, but it’s also not the full story. Dragonbane traces its lineage through Swedish roleplaying rather than directly through Dungeons & Dragons , even if the family resemblance is obvious. Most of the time, resolution is simple. You roll under the relevant stat or ...

Image courtesy of Dicebreaker [25 min read] In my ongoing curiosity about all things roleplaying, my first real step into solo journalling was Be Like a Crow . The system itself is wonderfully light, but the theme is rich with invitation: slip into the wings of a bird, draw a few cards, and let the prompts gently steer your imagination. I chose the Gothic Crow to tether this experiment to my Curse of Strahd campaign, but the game is far more flexible than that. Modern, steampunk, cyberpunk, pure fantasy, it wears them all easily. I played over a handful of one to two hour sessions, and you can find my raw notes here . I began by drafting the prose myself, but found the process slow and uneven, so I turned to AI-assisted editing to shape the journal into something more coherent and atmospheric. If you’re more literary than I am and relish the challenge, I wholeheartedly recommend picking up this game and writing something entirely your own. For now, read on, and enjoy being a crow, if ...

Res Mythica - a player-driven, tactical, narrative RPG set in a world inspired by classical antiquity Image from Res Mythica [5 min read] I recently sat down with my friend Mariano, the designer behind the up-and-coming tabletop role-playing game Res Mythica . We talk about role-playing games all the time, but this was the first time we tried capturing part of that conversation on camera. The topic for this pilot was one of the game’s signature features: the faction system . This system is central to Res Mythica , but it’s also something Game Masters (GMs) can lift and use in other RPGs. Our chat became a blend of design philosophy, practical GM advice, and a peek into Mariano’s thinking about narrative tension and player agency. What is Res Mythica ? I opened by asking Mariano how he’d describe Res Mythica to someone who’s only ever played D&D. He explained that while it shares familiar touchpoints, Res Mythica flips the usual structure. Most fantasy RPGs begin with a tactical c...

Image by  Polygon [10 min read] Intro - The First Flame The Age of Fire - Video Games The Age of Dark - Return to Tabletop Final Thoughts - The Cycle Continues Intro - The First Flame I discovered tabletop and video games almost at the same time, back in the late ’80s. Dungeons & Dragons and the Commodore 64 — those were heady days that sparked a lifelong fascination with how people play, and how design shapes that experience. Video games owe an enormous debt to tabletop’s early innovations. From centuries-old miniature wargames came the foundation for turn-based tactics like XCOM . From Risk and its 1950s cousins, we inherited the DNA of grand strategy games such as Civilisation . And from Dungeons & Dragons — itself born from wargaming in the 1970s — came the blueprint for computer roleplaying games: stats, hit points, experience, progression. Even a predominantly action-focused title like Dark Souls draws deeply from those mechanics. It was while playing Dark S...

Lucca Comics & Games 25 - from 29 Oct to 2 Nov 2025 [4 min read] Last weekend, I experienced my first real foray into the world of gaming conventions beyond video games, attending Lucca Comic & Games in Italy. Having spent years at large-scale events like Gamescom, I expected something similar, but Lucca immediately felt different. This is a festival spread across the beautiful old town, rather than a single, impersonal hall. Streets, piazzas, and historic buildings host comics, movies, and tabletop games. Cosplay is everywhere, and families stroll alongside hardcore gamers, creating a welcoming, vibrant atmosphere. Comics, movies, and video games made a splash in Lucca's streets   My friend Mariano and I focused on tabletop gaming, which made up most of our time. The Carducci Pavilion , the central hub for these, was packed but well organised, featuring everything from board, miniatures and card games as well as role-playing games.  Large publishers like Ravensburger...